HISTORY OF SURGERY: FIRST WORLD WAR

HISTOIRE DE LA CHIRURGIE: PREMIRE GUERRE MONDIALE

Western University (No. 10 Canadian Stationary

Hospital and No. 14 Canadian General Hospital):
a study of medical volunteerism in the First World
War
Alexandra C. Istl, MD Summary
Vivian C. McAlister, MB The Canadian government depended on chaotic civilian volunteerism to staff a
huge medical commitment during the First World War. Offers from Canadian
Accepted Oct. 14, 2016; Early-released universities to raise, staff and equip hospitals for deployment, initially rejected,
Nov. 11, 2016 were incrementally accepted as casualties mounted. When its offer was accepted
in 1916, Western University Hospital quickly adopted military decorum and
equipped itself using Canadian Red Cross Commission guidelines. Staff of the
Correspondence to:
V. McAlister
No. 10 Canadian Stationary Hospital and the No. 14 Canadian General Hospital
C8-005, University Hospital retained excellent morale throughout the war despite heavy medical demand,
London ON N6A 5A5 poor conditions, aerial bombardment and external medical politics. The over-
vivian.mcalister@gmail.com whelming majority of volunteers were Canadian-born and educated. The story of
the hospitals commanding officer, Edwin Seaborn, is examined to understand
the background upon which the urge to volunteer in the First World War was
DOI: 10.1503/cjs.013716
based. Although many Western volunteers came from British stock, they pro-
moted Canadian independence. A classical education and a broad range of inter-
ests outside of medicine, including biology, history and native Canadian culture,
were features that Seaborn shared with other leaders in Canadian medicine, such
as William Osler, who also volunteered quickly in the First World War.

O
n 14 August 1914, an ultimatum that the British government had issued
to Germany regarding Belgian sovereignty expired. Britain and its
dominions were drawn into the First World War. Despite months of
rising international tension, most people and their governments had hoped for
resolution and had failed to prepare. In Canada, efforts to raise an army of half a
million souls began immediately. Only Sam Hughes, the Minister of Militia and
Defence, had prepared by extending the militia, earning the nickname Drill
Hall Sam. The government now relied on Hughes chaotic plan to raise a
reserve force as it cancelled the mobilization plan that had been made by its pro-
fessional military staff.1 London, Ont., was critical to Hughes plan to mobilize
volunteers of British stock. It was designated as the headquarters of Canada Mili-
tary District No.1. It recruited and trained more than 50 000 troops from the
region.1 A camp at Valcartier, Que., was quickly constructed to mould volunteers
from all over Canada into an expeditionary army. Two stationary hospitals were
recruited in Valcartier. A third hospital, designated the No. 3 Canadian Station-
ary Hospital, was raised in London. Its commanding officer was Lieutenant-
Colonel Henry Raymond Casgrain, a surgeon in Windsor, Ont., who had been a
senior officer of the No. 2 Field Hospital in the 1885 North West Rebellion.
Western Universitys offer to raise another 200-bed hospital was declined by
Hughes on the reasonable basis that sufficient opportunities to volunteer were
available locally. Several members of faculty at Western University enlisted,
including surgeon John C ameron Wilson, an associate professor of surgical anat-
omy and lecturer in surgery. Hughes also probably did not want to lessen his
control, as he declined McGill Universitys offer at the same time. As war was
prolonged and casualties mounted, Hughes relented to external pressure, and
hospitals were recruited from universities, initially from McGill University, the

2016 Joule Inc. or its licensors Can J Surg, Vol. 59, No. 6, December 2016 371
HISTOIRE DE LA CHIRURGIE: PREMIRE GUERRE MONDIALE
University of Toronto and Queens University. On Apr. 28,
1916, the Canadian Government asked Western University
to raise and equip a 400-bed hospital for deployment.
The request set off a frenzy of activity that saw the hospi-
tal ready within a remarkable 2 and a half months. Western
Chair of Anatomy and professor of clinical surgery, Edwin
Seaborn, long an advocate of deploying a university hospital,
was appointed commanding officer at the rank of lieutenant
colonel. He led all aspects of recruitment, preparation and
training (Appendix 1, available at canjsurg.ca). He contacted
Western medical alumni, practitioners and nurse graduates
from local hospitals, and by May 2, 1916, had 70 offers for
the 10 medical officer positions and 60 applications for the
27 nursing positions. Sarnia General Hospital superinten-
dent of nursing, Helena Elizabeth Dulmage, was appointed
matron. Virtually none of these volunteers had military
experience with the exception of Major John Cameron
Wilson, who was transferred back to the Western unit. He
brought with him his new wife, nursing sister Lieutenant
Bertha Wilson (ne Cromwell), a veteran of No. 1 Canadian
General Hospital. Seaborn and Dulmage accepted
Mrs. Wilson, removing a bar against married women.
Another 118 ranks were selected among locals with appro-
priate trade and military experience, including several med
ical students with part-time military training on campus. One
of the latter was Scott Braithwaite, the university presidents
son. Equipment for the hospital was obtained with the help
of the local Red Cross, using Canadian Red Cross Commis-
sion guidelines and a local church for storage. A university
fund drive was started, raising 30 000 pounds (equivalent to
Can$4 million at the time) by January 1917. Eventually
90000 items were packed into 478 boxes for transport.2
The unit arrived in Shorncliffe, England, on Aug. 30,
2017, into a maelstrom of Canadian medical politics. The
unit was inspected by Major General Guy Carelton Jones,
director general of medical services, and was given a pass on
attending a course for new units at the training depot. The
unit was first appointed to a small hospital in Seaford, but
No. 10 Stationary Hospital c.1916 (Western Archives, Western University, AFC 20-31-388A, Dr. Edwin Seaborn fonds).
372 o
J can chir, Vol. 59, N 6, dcembre 2016
soon Ravenscroft hospital was added to their responsibility
so that they were looking after 450 patients at 4 sites.3
Seaborn appealed to the university fund and purchased an
ambulance. Seaborn dealt with outbreaks of infectious dis-
eases, including mumps, measles and meningitis, by using
the satellite sites as isolation for specific infections. Mean-
while Carelton Jones had been fired by Hughes on the basis
of a naive and probably biased report written by Herbert
Bruce. Seaborn claimed that the confusion covered No. 10s
learning curve and that they soon distinguished themselves
by never complaining.4 Seaborn was given command of the
hospital at Eastbourne in addition to their 4 satellite sites.
Looking after 700 beds, they were reconstituted as the
No. 14 Canadian General Hospital. Services were added,
including radiology, blood transfusion and physiotherapy.
Seaborn, whose father-in-law, was the celebrated psych
iatrist Maurice Bucke, had included a psychiatrist on the
units staff. An academic focus was maintained with 3meet-
ings weekly to discuss topics in medicine and s urgery.
In December 1917, command of the No. 14 was trans-
ferred to Lieutenant-Colonel Kenneth Douglas Panton,
while Seaborn was tasked with taking a smaller group as the
No. 10 Canadian Stationary Hospital to Calais, France.
They were given a poor site by the Canal de Marck, which
had been aba ndoned by a British hospital. They arrived to
find the camp flooded, with no power. Although about
40 miles from the front at that time, they were subject to
aerial bombardment because of the importance of the
Calais port. The unit immediately set about rehabilitaing
the site by installing sewage, drainage, walkways and power,
reinforcing patient areas and building bomb shelters. Soon
they were receiving up to 250 new patients a day. The canal
was used to transport the wounded. S eaborn noticed that
the less injured arrived first. He developed a rapid admis-
sion system (canal to ward in less than 1 min) so that he
could keep treatment areas clear. A mobile surgical unit was
created to treat patients injured by bombardment on site.
Major General Carelton Jones complimented the unit,
 HISTORY OF SURGERY: FIRST WORLD WAR

Officers of the No. 10 Stationary Hospital c.1916 (Western Archives, Western University, AFC 4-23-28, No.
10 Stationary Hospital fonds). Back row: Capt. Brock (Quarter Master), Capt. Jento, Capt. Henderson.
Middle row: Capt. Douglass, Capt. Moriarty, Lieut. Dickie, Capt. Fraeleigh, Capt. Bice, Capt. Turner.
Front row: Capt. Hudson, Maj. Wilson, Lieut. Col. Seaborn, Maj. Brown, Capt. Young.

saying that they had achieved in 1 month what the Imper
ials could not do in 6. The German offensive drive in
March 1918 rendered the forward hospitals inoperative,
dramatically increasing the number and severity of casual-
ties. Most of the patients were British, as the Canadians
were deployed far south of the hospital. The unit received
an order to make a plan to abandon camp. Fortunately the
German offensive failed, and soon the front line was pushed
eastward. Other challenges ensued, including influenza. In
1 tent of 50 patients, 48 men died. Finally on Nov. 11,
1918, came the armistice, and the Calais lighthouse shone
at full power. Within the week there were no more air-raid
precautions or wounded coming in from the front. The
unit did not leave France until Apr. 16, 1919. While in
Calais, No. 10 had admitted 16712 patients; only 3 other
hospitals in France had taken so many.
Edwin Seaborn was the son of an Anglican minister who
lectured in chemistry at the university. The Seaborns spent
summers by Georgian Bay, where Edwin roamed free in
nature and made friends with the boys of the Saugeen First
Nation. He graduated in medicine from Western Univer-
sity in 1895. There is no record of his postgraduate educa-
tion, but he credited Chicago surgeon, John B. Murphy
with teaching him wound dbridement and irrigation, a
method he mandated in the unit. He used his time in
France from armistice until demobilization to pursue
research into the reproductive cycle of the horse with Pro-
fessor Paul Christian Champy in Paris. While he main-
tained a successful surgical practice in London, Ont., after
the war, he continued his equine research and he described
several new species of freshwater fish in Lake Huron. He
made some of the only recordings of native medicine songs
with the help of friends from the Saugeen First Nation. He
was a noted local historian. Seaborn shared his background,
education and life interests with a more famous leader of
Canadian medicine who also volunteered unreservedly in
the First World War: William Osler.
Affiliations: From the Department of Surgery, Western University,
London, Ont., (Istl, McAlister); and the Royal Canadian Medical Ser-
vice, Canada (McAlister).
Competing interests: None declared.
Contributors: Both authors contributed substantially to the concep-
tion, writing and revision of this article and approved the final version
for publication.
References
1. Hyatt AMJ, Geddes Poole N. Battle for Life. Waterloo (Ont.): Wilfred
Laurier University Press; 2004.
2. Seaborn E. History of the No. 10 Stationary Hospital of the Medical Faculty,
University of Western Ontario (1919). London (Ont.): Western Univer-
sity Archives and Research Collection Centre (ARCC LE3.W53M44).
3. Seaborn E. Letters to Ina (letters, 1916-19). London (Ont.): Western
University Archives and Research Collection Centre (AFC Box 20-9,
Seaborn Collection).
4. War diaries 14th Canadian General Hospital. RG9, Militia and
Defence, Series III-D- 3, Volume 5036, Reel T-10927, File: 859.
1916/05/10-1919/02/28. Available: http://data4.collectionscanada
.gc.ca (accessed 2016 July 1).

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